Connector.



Patented Inger. El.

.eminence niet. namen io, wie. serial ne. mese.

gfi. Specification of Letters Patent.

To czZZ whom t may, concern:

Be it known that l', STANLEY ANTHONY, n, citizen of the Unite-d States, residing et Boston, county of Suffolk, State oi" Massechnsetts, lieve invented en improvement in Fig. 7 ise. detail view of the connecting ineinber for connectingA e conductor to the Contact member;

Fig. 8 is e. section on the line 8 8, Fig. 1.

My improved connector comprises two Connectors, of which the followingdescripconnector members, each of whichcerries en. tion, in connection with the accompanying electrical Contact element or elements that drawing, is e. specification, like characters ere edeptedi to engage corresponding eleon the drawing representing like ports. ments carried by the other member. The lo This invention relates to connectors for contact eleinents will preferably be in the @t3 electrically mid niecheniceily connecting nature of the usual plug end socket elements, conductor ends or for connecting' e condncand for convenience, will hereinafter refer tor to e, lar-np or other similar device, end to the connector member carrying the ping the object of the invention is to provide a. Contact elements as the plug member, and the connector in which the contaet elements end. other member es the-socket member. The alsothe 'locking elements by which tie two plug member is designated generally by members of the connector are locked together and the socket member by Q. The plug ineinare so constructed and located that when the ber comprises e bod-y portion 3, of insnieting two connector members ere separated from materiel carrying e plug contact member ai, 2G eech other both the Contact elements and the and the socket member 2 comprises e body 7 locking elements are protected :ind do not 5 of insulating materiel carrying e socket present projections that are lie'ole to get Contact 6. rChe plug 'Contact Yi end socket caught on any object nnd'bent out oi shape, con toot 6' ere adopted to engage each other und `also to provide e constiuction-wherein .when the two members are connected tothe contact elements of the two inemhers ere gether, thus completing the electrical cir- 30 so protected tint einen the members ere sepa enit. .ihe connector may be mede with e rated freno each other e short circuit cannot single Ypnir of plug-end-soclret contact menn-I be formed by leying the elenientsdown or bers, .or with two pairs, depending on bringing them into contact with piece of, whether e single conductor or two sondrio metal. Further objects oi the invention are tors ere to he connected. ln the iliustreted 35 to provide a nomi construction. for connect embodiment of my invention eech of the ingr the conductor ooi/ds to the contact eieconnector members has two Contact elements, ments. and otherwise to improve connectors, there being two plug contacts 4 and tWo all as wiil moire 'uliy hereinafter de socket contacts 6. scribed and then pointed ont inthe :appended One feetnre of my present invention re 90 claims. lates to e construction wherein the Contact ln order to give :in understanding my elements are so protected that when the two invention have illustrated in 'the drawings connector members 1 and Q are separa-ted some selected embodiments thereof which 'from each other the contacts are protected eo will now be described. elt iongh desire to against being short-circuited by Aany nccie5 state that the invention is not limited to the dental engagement of :i piece of inetnl thereM constrnctionel features shown. with. To this end the plug" cmtnct elements In the drawings, Figure l is e. side view e ereoountersnnk in the insulating body` 3 of a connector embodying my invention; so tbatsseid contact elements are situated Fig. 2 is e. longitudinal section teken entirely Within the bodyBand do not project 100 through the connector on substantially the beyond the end thereof. As" herein shown, lineQ-Q, Fig. 3; the insulating body 3 is provided with two Fig. 3 is e section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, apertures 7 in which the plug contacts 4 ere showing vthe connector members partially received, seid contectseach being fornire-dA 59 se e'ated; with e body portion 8 thetits the aperture 105 "ig, 4 isn sectionon ti1eiinee--4,Fig.1; end with a reduced Contact endwhich is Fig. 5 is e. section on the .iine 545, Figs. A preferably split to 'maire it resiiient. The l and Q; y split Contact end isos? less diameter than the Fig. t is a. View similar-to Fig. i2 showing bore so that the end of the bore forms e en o modicetion the invention; 1 10 reef-es in which the plug elements ere te f io ceived. The socket contact elementsndiare located in apertures formed `in the insulating member and are formed with sockets 9 in their ends to receive the plug contacts 4, the

socketed ends of thevcontaet elements 6 rojecting beyond the insulating body 5, an being received in the recess 7,when the two `members are connected together. .This construction provides a plug member 1 having member is separated from the member 2 and is laid on apiece of metal point. Toprotect the'socket contact elements 6 the socket connector member 2 is provided with a shell- `like extension 10 which extends beyond the l ends of the socket contact elementsand prevents their being short-circuited.

, This shell-like extension 10 is the extending portion of an inclosin shell 13 of metal or any suitable material 1n which the insulating body 5 of the socket member 2 is received, and it forms part of the locking means by lwhich the two members 1iv and 2 are locked together. When the two parts are connected together the extension 10 tele- Scopes over the body 3 of the member 1. The

member `1 is provided with two resilientl catches 11 provided with hooked portions 12 that are adapted to have locking engagement with the extension 10. This locking engagement may be provided for in various ways, and as herein shown, said extension 10-is formed with slots 14 into whichythe batches 12 are adapted to snap'asy shown in @ne wall of each slot constitutesl a catch-engaging surface or edge which has interlocking engagement with one of the catches. The ends 15 of the catches are pref erabiy bent inwardly slightly so that when the .two connector members l and 2 are brought together with an endwise movement, the resilient catches 11 will automatically enter the extension 10 and snap into the notches 14e The body portion 3 o f insulating matevrial is provided with side recesses 16 in which these catches are received.. Said rcatches are herein shown as secured to the the catches will be released, thus permitting the parts to be separated. The extension 10 of the shell 13 is provided with slots 20 in which the portions l17 of the spring catches are received when the parts are connected together. Y

The plug memberl 1 is provided with a cap or shell 21 which incloses the outer end 4v,thereof and provides a suitable nish for the end of the plug. This cap or shell will preferably be so constructed that it will meet the shell extension 10 when the parts,

l hereinl shown, the shell21 is formed withV the two notches 24 adaptedy to receive the rounded ends 25 of a plate 26 thatoverlies the inturned ends 19 of the spring catches and is secured to -the body 3 by thle clamping screws 18. The shell 21 is provided with.

two notches 260 vadjacent the slots 2li/,and is also provided with the slits 27 whichv permit the slotted portions of the shell to` give or yield. In 'removing the cap from the body 3 said cap is turned so as to bring the notches 260 in line with the projecting ends 25, said.

ends 25 being rounded so that when turning pressure is applied to the shell the notched Iportion thereof will sprinv' outwardly and pass o' from the end 25. l/'Vhen the end 25 comes into the notch 260 the shell may be withdrawn in a longitudinal direction. The` In the device shown in Fig. 2-the two connector members 1 and 2 are capable of separating entirely from each other. In some locations it is desirable merely to separate the two members 1 and 2 suficiently to break the electrical connection without, however, -entirely disconnecting said memhere.v Where this construction is .desirable 1 propose to make the-shell extension 10 with bars or bridge pieces 28 yextending across the slots'20, which bridge pieces occupy a position beneath the offset portion 17 of the spring catches. This construction is shown in Fig. 6 and when it is employed said bridge pieces 28 limit the amount lwhich the two members 1 and 2 can be sepa-A rated from each other by their engagement with the portions 29 of the spring catches, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 6. A construction of this sort is especially useful in a connector for a tail-light on an automobile where it is desirable to break the electrical connection'without, however, entirely separating the two connector members.

I have herein shown a novel construction for connecting the conductors 23 to the contact elements. This construction is herein shown as employed in connecting the conductors to the plug Contact members, but it might equally well be used for connecting them to the socket Contact elements. The construction herein provided constitutes a detachable connection which provides for the ready disengagement of the conductors from the contact elements. This connection is made by a connecting memberl 30 in the form of a screw-threaded plug adapted to have screw-threaded engagement with a screw-threaded socket 31 formed in the end of the contact element. The connecting member 30 is provided with a longitudinal bore through which thewires 32 of the conductor are extended, and in order to fasten the conductor wires to the connecting member 30, the ends of said wires ,are bent over the end of the member 30, as shown at 33 in dotted lines Fig. 7. The outer end of the connecting member 30 will rest against the insulation 34 of the conductor, and by bending the ends of the wires over the end of the connecting member the latter will be firmly secured to the conductor and the conductor in turn will be provided with a screw-threaded connection which can be readily screwed into the screw-threaded socket of the contact element. In the construction herein shown vthe socket contact elements 6 are connected to spring. terminals 340 adapted to engage the terminals of a lamp and the outer end of the shell 13 is formed as a lamp socket to receive the lamp 35. For this purpose the end of the shell 13 is provided with a neck 3G having formed therein grooves 37 which terminate at their inner ends in laterally-directed slots 39 adapted to receive the locking pins 40 on the lamp, this construction providinV a bayonet joint connection. It will be un ere stood, however, that instead of leading to a lamp, as herein shown, the socket contact elements 6 might be connected to other conductors in a manner similar to that in which the plug contact elements 4 are connected to the conductors 23.

The advantage of the' grooved construe# tion is that a structure with such grooves is much stronger than if the grooves were simply open slots'. These grooves permit the locking pins 40 to enter and to be disengaged from the slots 39, and the fact that the shell is notslotted prevents the shell from spreading.

resilient catches secured to said second gagement with said slots to lock the two is constructed to enter said extended portion of the shell and is provided with catchreceiving recesses, a contact element carried by each member, and resilient catches secured to the second member and occupying said recesses, said catches being situated on the inside of the shell andconstructed to have interlocking engagement with the catch-engaging surfaces, thereby to lock the two members positively together, said catches having portions other than those that engage said surfacesthat project outwardly from the exterior of the connector, whereby when such projecting portions are pressed inwardly the catches will be forced inwardly and disengage from the catchreceiving surfaces.

2. A connector comprising two connector members, one of which has a body of insulating material carryin a contact element and an inclosing shelL that extends beyond the body opposed openings and two opposed slots, and the other of which members is provided with catch-receiving recesses and a contact element which is adapted to engage the first-named contact element when the two members are in operative relation, epd

e ement and occupying said recesses, said catches constructed to have interlocking enmembers positivelytogether and also heving portions projecting through the open.- ings in the shell of the first-named member and beyond the wall of the connecter.

In testimony whereof, l have signed my -I name to this specication, in the presence 95 of two subscribin witnesses. i S ANLEY ATETEONY.

Witnesses: .4 BERTHA F. mueren,

THOMAS J. Deuren-enc. 

